A NEW budget hotel has opened in Christchurch, signalling a £4million investment in the town.

The Travelodge in Saxon Square was officially opened by the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Denise Jones and Christchurch MP Christopher Chope on Saturday.

The new 68-room hotel in the former Christchurch medical centre has created 12 new jobs. And the company has also announced they will be looking for two new hotel sites in Weymouth and Swanage creating another 30 jobs.

Christchurch Travelodge is being managed by Lynn Bradley, who started her career with the company back in 2010 as an Assistant Hotel Manager at Bournemouth Travelodge.

Lynn has recruited the team through the company’s partnership with Job Centre Plus, which helps the long term unemployed back into work.

She said: “We are delighted to open our first hotel in Christchurch. By offering good value rooms, we will attract more visitors to Christchurch which will give the local economy an additional boost of £1.2m, as our research shows that a Travelodge customer will spend on average £36 in local businesses when staying over.

“The hotel has already got off to a flying start and we’re nearly sold out for the October half term.

“Dorset is an important market for us. The county is a tourism powerhouse. Its visitor numbers are growing year on year and it is attracting visitors from all corners of the globe.

“To support the great work that is happening to attract more visitors to Dorset, we are looking for two more sites in the county to build more Travelodge hotels; so that we can offer more good value rooms to consumers.”

B&B owners opposed

IN 2009, unhappy bed and breakfast owners opposed the approved plans for the Travelodge saying it would destroy their businesses.

Two years later an investigation revealed Christchurch Health Centre was labelled one of the worst unused buildings in the country for wasted Department of Health rent. Despite planning approval being given, work on the Travelodge hadn’t yet started, and the building which had lain empty since 1989 still had a lease, rent, rates and service charges. Christchurch MP Chris Chope raised the issue a number of times in Parliament, calling for progress to be made on the site.